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Where are Kevin and Ruth right now? Calderitas (Chetumal), Quintana Roo, Mexico.

Where are they going next? Xpujl, Campeche, Mexico. Arriving February 20th.

Wednesday, January 17, 2018

Nice to have a rest day for a change

We're definitely going to be making some route and schedule changes for next year. Everyone on the caravan agrees that the first part of the trip doesn't have enough rest days.

Don't get me wrong... everyone is thoroughly enjoying their trip, but it could be even better. We all know that we have more rest days towards the end of the trip, but we need to even things out a bit.

So, with yesterday being a day of rest, everyone did their own thing. A couple of people walked the two kms or so into the town of San Juan Benito Juarez, while some just stayed at the RV park and got some laundry done and relaxed.

Ruth and I went with Tim and Lovey to Cuitzeo with the RV Park owner Arturo. We needed to do another ATM withdrawal. We have to pay a lot of the caravan expenses along the way, and many things still need to be paid for in cash.

Cuitzeo is known for it's ex-convent Santa Maria Magdalena...

So we're wandering around town, and I see a shoe repair place. One of Ruth's hiking boots was starting to fall apart, but she was hoping it would last through this winter. We went and talked to the guy, but he wanted us to leave it with him. Ruth didn't have another pair of shoes with her though! Finally, he agreed to do it while we wait. Funny guy, always with a big smile on his face!

The shoe repair guy.

He gave Ruth a plastic bag to put on her foot while he did the repairs.

He glued it, and then hand stitched the sole. Pretty nice repair. It took him about 30 minutes. But that included talking to other customers who were dropping off other repair jobs. They don't throw things away here... they fix them!

Total bill for the shoe repair? 20 pesos ($1.35 CAD, $1.10 USD).

Next door was the roast chicken guy...

Whole roast chicken for 80 pesos ($5.50 CAD, $4.35 USD).

Back at the RV Park, we relaxed for the rest of the afternoon. I poked around underneath Sherman because I had spotted a possible exhaust problem. There's a loose clamp that needs to be replaced, so I did a very Mickey Mouse repair job, but it should last until I can get it replaced.

Meanwhile, Ruth did some hand laundry.

Around 4:30pm we went for happy hour and a pot luck dinner.

Group pot luck dinner.

Lots of yummy food.

Today, we're off to the Big Tamale.... Mexico City! There are two RV Parks that service Mexico City. We are headed to Pepe's Hotel and RV Park, located about 45 kms north of the city. Ruth and I have never been to this RV Park before, so we're looking forward to a new experience. So, a 250 km (155 mile) driving day today, the Teotihuacan ruins tomorrow, and Mexico City Friday and Saturday!

The tour is great and we are definitely kept busy and everyone is certainly enjoying themselves but it is necessary to get a few more free days added in or everyone is going to get burned out or sick. Luckily things should start to slow down just a little more once we get over to the gulf coast and start making our way south from there.

It seems that it is mostly at the beginning of this tour that seems too rushed and it sounds like they will add in a few more free days on next year's tour which we think is necessary otherwise people will get sick and not enjoy the trip as much. Everyone needs a little more down time especially at the beginning.

Just curious Kevin - have you noticed if ULSD seems to be more commononly available down there this year (as Pemex promised) or is it easy to even identify at the pump? We are presently on the list for next year’s Yucatan Tour but would not want to risk damage to our exhaust system with LSDiesel. Meanwhile, congratulations on leading what appears to be an amazing trip so far!

It is becoming more common and we have two trucks on this trip that require it and so far have been able to obtain it. By the end of this year it should be fully rolled out down here in Mexico. We do have a list of stations that are supposed to carry it so we try to check our route and see if there are any available along our route so that they can fill up with it. One unit carries about 5 big gas canisters along with them for back up and the other truck has an external tank. When you come next year you shouldn't have any problems finding it.

That should be good but honestly, you need to have two nights in Saltillo. It is a pretty city to visit and people then have time to get some much needed groceries and there is a great Telcel Client Service place there so that everyone can get set up with data and phone that need it before heading on down the road to Zacatecas where these things are harder to do because nothing is close by.

Really interested in your feedback on Pepes. The guy parked next to me who knows the park, says try to park people up the left hand side as you go in. The power on the right hand side has an open ground. With an airstream you notice that sort of thing when you touch it.

We’re on next year’s tour. SOOOO glad to hear more rest days are being added at the beginning. I was having second thoughts as I was exhausted reading the blogs. It is so much fun reading Kevin’s stories and the excellent photos. Thank you and keep up the fantastic journaling.

Everybody was ready to go right on time again. We pulled out just before 9:00am onto the busy pot-holed road towards Veracruz. It's amaz...

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